Back to Oz
by Bellatrix wannabe 89
Summary: With Dorothy's boyfriend home from the war she couldn't be more happier.  But when Tin Man comes to her with news that the Witch is back and holding Scarecrow hostage, Dorothy must make a choice; stay safe with her new flame, or go save her one true love.
1. Chapter 1

I own no one but my own people

A/N Alright, I LOVED this movie when I was younger, I mean I had it literally memorized from beginning to end, like seriously. And I just introduced my 8 year old sister to the wonder that is Wizard of Oz the movie and I myself saw it for the first time in about five years, and I just had this strong, almost forceful need to write something in FF about it so enjoy :).

September 18th 1945, Kansas

Dorothy rolled more flour on her hands as she continued to knead the dough for the bread, wiping the sweat away from her brow with her arm.

It had been six years since she had dreamed about Oz. And it amazed her that she still remembered every vivid detail from the dream, whereas most of her other dreams had simply vanished the moment she woke up.

From the bright colors and bursting excitement of Munchkin land, to the dark black and gray terror of the Witches castle, to the magnificent green chambers of the 'wizards' lair, to the beautifully colored painted face of-

"No!" she screamed at herself as she pounded the bread even harder. "It was a dream! He isn't real!"

As much as she remembered about her dream to the fantastical land, Dorothy had refused to let herself remember _him_.

It wasn't like she didn't want to remember him, far from it, but every time she allowed herself to see him even in her minds eye she would start to hate the land she lived in, wanting nothing more than to make her dream become real once more.

She repeated the process several more times before she heard a loud commotion outside.

She quickly looked out the kitchen window and gasped at who she saw walking through the fence, her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry rushing up to meet the Man, Zeke, Hickory, and Hunk also rushing over to the Man.

Forgetting the bread she ran out of the tiny farm house running as fast as she could towards the scene of excitement.

"Frank!" she screamed as loud as she could, her face lighting up in absolute and pure joy, running faster than ever, her heart pumping loudly, her brown shoes kicking up the dry prairie dust beneath her feet.

Her family at once split for fear of Dorothy running into them and she reached the Man that had caused the commotion, stopping right in front of him.

No older than twenty two and several inches higher than Dorothy, Frank Lyman Stanton with his long straw colored hair now brutally short that was covered up by a straight and stiff Army cap was wearing a dark green Army uniform with numerous medals pinned to the shirt, a suitcase and duffel bag at his well polished boots.

Frank smiled at her, making her heart pound even harder than before.

"Hi, Dorothy," he finally spoke, his soft kind voice not effected by four years of hell and war.

She looked over him for a moment before, forgetting all dignity, she ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and he hugged her just as tight around the waist lifting her out of the ground and twirling her around, inhaling the scent of her brown curls that had eluded him for far too long.

He set her down and looked down at her, the smile on her face giving him more warmth than the dry Kansas sun could ever give him.

"I just got back in," he told her, "this afternoon. Been on a ship and at processing stations for the past five weeks. The war ended on the second, and it took just as long getting home as it did getting there."

"I'm just so glad you've made it home safe," Dorothy said. "The Robinsons up the street; they lost a boy overseas just two weeks before it ended. I don't know what I would have done if…"

She trailed off, looking down at the dusty ground, unable to continue on, tears stinging her eyes.

Frank looked at her for a moment before he lifted her chin and met her eyes. "You never have to worry about that again, Dorothy."

Dorothy looked around briefly and noticed that the three farmhands and her Aunt and Uncle had left the young couple in private.

Looking back to meet his gaze, Dorothy let out a shaky breath as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to him, his eyes showing what she could only be described as love.

Slightly hesitating, he leaned down and his lips met hers, and Dorothy, momentarily stunned, finally kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him closer.

They finally pulled away and Frank sighed happily, closing his eyes in content as he still held on to her. "You have no long how long I've wanted to do that. I missed you so much, Dorothy."

Dorothy blushed and smiled shyly at him. "I missed you too, Frank. Everyday all I thought about was you over there in that trench on the front lines… I'm just so happy you're home."

He chuckled and smiled at her once more as she leaned up against him resting her head on his shoulder. "I missed you too, doll. I missed you too."

October 16th 1945, Oz, Emerald City

"Get the guards to hold down the front gate!" Scarecrow shouted at his head of guards. "I want spears at the ready!"

"What about your inner chambers, your highness?" the tall Man wearing green asked, his long moustache trembling as the sounds of battle roared on just outside their beloved city. "Shouldn't you place a few guards inside to protect you?"

"I don't care about me! I care about protecting my people! Now I want all your remaining men to circle the walls of the city, no one gets in! Are they all moved down to the shelters?"

The head guard nodded. "Yes, your highness. Only two refused to go."

"Who?" Scarecrow asked as he grabbed his own sword and spear from the wall behind him.

"Us, "a familiar voice rang out as the door to his chambers opened, revealing his two best friends.

"I don't want you two getting hurt," Scarecrow said as he looked over the faces of Tin Man and Lion.

"This is our city as well," Tin Man said as he stepped into the throne room, "and if we have to die defending it, then so be it."

"Well… I don't know about 'die'," Lion muttered softly, tugging at his tail. "But I'm okay with getting a little hurt."

Scarecrow shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"You're fighting," Lion pointed out as he nodded towards the sword and spear in his hands. "And you're far more likely to get hurt then both of us."

"Plus we fought the Witch's guards once before when we had to rescue-."

"Don't say her name" Scarecrow yelled, almost a plea with his best friend not to mention the name of the girl he missed more than anything.

"Well in any case we fought with you then, and we're ready to fight with you now!" Tin Man said confidently as he held his silver ax aloft, nudging Lion who nodded although he looked much less enthusiastic then Tin Man.

Despite his annoyance with them, Scarecrow couldn't help but smile. "Alright… Grab your weapons and teeth, and let's go!"

Before any of them had even taken a step, there was a loud commotion and several ear shattering crashed, followed by the pounding of his throne room.

All three men turned towards the door and they forced each other to stand there, holding their weapons aloft.

"We can't defeat them by ourselves!" the guard shouted from behind the desk where he hid. "There's too many of them! We need more help!"

Another loud crash came followed by the double doors slamming open, making the three men gasp in terror at who stood there.

The Wicked Witch of the West was in front of about fifty winkies.

Scarecrow swallowed his fear and aimed his spear at the woman and her guards along with Tin Man, Lion shivering too much in fright to do anything.

The Witch cackled loudly at his attempt to intimidate her as she stormed into the room, the guards with their spears pointed in front of them at the men.

"Well well well," she said with a cruel sneer. "Thought you'd gotten rid of me did ya? Thought you were pretty clever ay?"

"You… you ar... are under arrest fo… for crimes agains- against," Scarecrow tried to say but he was shaking so badly in fear he could barely get a word out.

The Witch cackled even louder as she went up to him. "Haven't you learned anything, Scarecrow? I am more powerful then you will ever be even without the ruby slippers. Now tell me where they are and step down from the throne!"

"Well… if you're already more powerful than me without the slippers, why do you need them?" Scarecrow asked, trying to control his shaking.

The Witch glowered at him for a moment before she got another cruel smile on her face.

"Wanna play games, huh? Fine! But mark my words, Scarecrow! You and your little friends are going to regret this! I am the rightful ruler of Oz! People will bow down to ME!"

Hearing this, Scarecrow straightened up at once as did Lion and Tin Man. "As king of Oz, I will NOT let you harm my people any more then you've already have!"

A look of brave admiration on his face he lifted his sword and charged at her, Tin Man following with his ax rose.

Not wasting a moment, she waved her hand and at once a ball of fire filled her hand and Scarecrow yelled in terror and backed up, moving away from the Witch, tripping on his own two feet.

The Witch cackled loudly as she advanced on him, the fire still in the palm of her skin. "Look at that! Mighty and honorable ruler of Oz afraid of a little fire!"

"Put it out, out it out!" he pleaded as he scampered away from her to hide behind Tin Man.

The Witch laughed once more before she threw it at him missing him by an inch.

"See what'll happen if you oppose me, Scarecrow!" she yelled as it hit the wall behind him. "I don't even need my guards to protect me! Now relinquish your throne or next time, I won't miss!" she growled.

Scarecrow swallowed hard as he heard the multiple screams and shouts of his people coming from outside his chambers.

Taking a deep breath; he shook his head. "I won't let you hurt them!"

The Witch glowered at him for a moment before she snapped her fingers and six guards ran up to the three of them, one of them grabbing Scarecrow by the arms and forcing them down to his knees, while another pointed spears at his exposed throats, the other four forcing Tin Man and Lion away from him.

"Say good bye, Scarecrow!"

Scarecrow closed his eyes and took a deep breath, saying the first words that popped into his head. "I love you, Dorothy."

Hearing the name of her worst and most hated enemy, the Witch held up a hand, her eyes narrowing in disgust at him. "Did you just say you 'loved' that horrible disgusting little brat?"

Scarecrow said nothing as the Witch got a cruel evil smile on her face. "You just saved yourself Scarecrow. You killed her, but you saved yourself… for the time being."

"Don't hurt her!" Scarecrow shouted as he tried to stand up, but was restrained once more, Tin Man and Lion looking panicked and frantic at the Witch's words.

The Witch snapped her fingers once more and the Winkie holding Scarecrow was forced forward, throwing him down at the Witch's feet.

"You will go to Kansas, tell that little girl Scarecrow 'loves' that he's my prisoner and unless she comes to me he's dead!"

"No, Tin Man, don't!" Scarecrow yelled as he tried to get up once more but was pushed down once more.

"Don't do it, Tin Man!" Lion pleaded. "Don't put her in danger!"

Tin Man shook his head defiantly. "I'm not going to!"

"Either you do it, or I do, and I'll kill her whole family while I'm at it and I'll tell her it was YOU who had a chance to save them and chose not to!"

Tin Man swallowed hard before he turned to Scarecrow who sighed heavily and looked at the Witch. "Do what she says," he spat angrily. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if the ones she loved were hurt."

The Witch cackled loudly, rubbing her hands together gently. "Good, very good… now I will send you back for three days, three days exactly! Get her to come back to Oz in that time, or I kill them and I go get her myself!"

"How will I get her back?"

The Witch rubbed her hands together quickly for several moments before a red pocket watch appeared on his wrist.

"Push the little button on the side to get back to Oz, be sure to be holding onto her when you come back! When it reaches the twelve… that means your time is UP!"

Glaring at the Witch for a moment he turned back to Scarecrow and Lion.

"Don't cry, you'll rust yourself!" Scarecrow warned as he saw Tin Man's bottom lip quiver.

Tin Man nodded, took a deep shuddering breath before he turned back to the Witch and gave her a curt nod.

The Witch closed her eyes as well, muttering unintelligible words and the chamber seemed to go darker as if it were night outside and a deep howling wind blew from all directions of the chamber all crashing onto Tin Man.

The Witch muttered her spell even louder and more frantic as lightning and thunder seemed to crash inside the chambers before with an even louder crash or light, Tin Man was gone.

The light came back and the howling wind stopped, as did the thunder and lightning and the Witch opened her eyes, a wickedly sly grin on her face. "Now…"

The guard held his spear against his throat tighter. "Let's go tell your people who the new ruler of Oz is."

Please Review.


	2. Chapter 2

I own no one but my own people

A/N Just letting you know it's based off the 1939 movie, but it will have several book references in it. Not a lot but some. Enjoy :-)

"You know you really didn't have to help," Dorothy protested for what felt like the hundredth time that night as Frank stood diligently beside her helping her do the evening dishes while her family and the farm hands worked diligently outside on the wagon that had broken it's wheel.

Frank shook his head as he reached over and grabbed a plate and washed the suds from it before drying it. "If it means I have an excuse to see you for another hour then I'll wash every dish in this farm house ten times over."

A blush crept to the surface of her skin and Frank grinned at her timid smile. "That's… that's very kind of you. Thank you."

Frank chuckled as he permitted himself to lean over and give her a chaste kiss on the cheek before he turned back to the dishes.

Dorothy sighed contently as she washed out the large cook pot full of chicken and dumplings made from scratch. Frank looked over at her while a sly grin grew on his lips. Dorothy caught it out of the corner of her eye and turned to him, her brow raised in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," he answered with a shrug, discreetly scooping some of the foamy suds into his hand. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"It's just I thought you could use a bit of cleaning yourself."

Her lips parted in confusion before Frank flicked the suds at her with a beaming grin on his face. She let out a cry of shock as she wiped the soap from her dress. Dorothy struggled to hold the look that told him she wasn't amused but her grin quickly gave her away.

"Well thank you for that," she told him as she wiped the remaining bubbles from her dress. "Only there's one little problem."

"Which would be…?

"You need cleaning up yourself!" Dorothy told him as she scooped up a hand full of suds and tossed it at his face.

He sputtered and blindly picked up another fistful of suds and threw it at her, met with her shriek of amusement and another face full of soap. Frank laughed as he dodged her ammo and took a massive sized handful and turned towards her, a wickedly sly grin on his face.

Dorothy slowly began to back away as he approached her. "Frank, don't," she told him, unable to keep the smile off her face. "I'm serious."

"So am I," he said with a grin.

She took another step back when she stepped into a puddle of soapy water that had gotten spilled on the floor during their bubble riots.

Dorothy let out a cry of surprise as she began to fall backwards only to be caught at the last second by Frank.

"I gotcha," he told her as he held her tight in his arms, his voice a soft almost whisper. "I promise I won't let you fall."

Dorothy wrapped her arms around his neck as the young couple stared deep into each other's eyes. As she did, she couldn't help as flashes of another man with brilliant blue eyes entered her mind's eye…

"Dorothy?" Frank asked his voice soft and low.

"Yeah?" she answered, struggling to rid her memories of the straw man, desperately telling herself it was all a dream. That it wasn't good to hold onto the things you could never have. That she shouldn't be wasting her time thinking about the beautifully painted man when the real love of her life was standing here in front of her.

Frank took a deep breath as he swallowed hard. "I… I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Frank licked his suddenly dry lips as he looked deep into her eyes.

"Dorothy… I lo-."

A scream louder than they had ever heard before erupted from outside followed by the sounds of all four men shouting and hollering in fright.

Frank straightened her out before the two sprinted outside to see what the commotion was.

"Auntie Em!" Dorothy cried as she and Frank made their way to the back of her house where they had heard the scream.

When the pair reached the back of the house they both stopped dead as they took on the scene in front of them.

Auntie Em had fainted and Uncle Henry was holding her in his arms and fanning her while the three farm hands looked on in shock at what was standing in front of them.

"What IS that?" Frank asked in awe as he approached what looked like a large pile of scrap metal while Dorothy could only stand there, her eyes wide open, her mouth half open as she looked upon the man she hadn't seen in years and who she thought only existed in her dreams.

"It popped out of nowhere!" Zeke cried as he cowered behind the wagon. Saw Emily scream and faint, he began crying that he didn't mean to hurt her and stopped moving!"

"It's a communist weapon!" Hickory shouted desperately to anyone that would listen. "That's what they are! Cruel evil dictators with no hearts creating them to spy on us! You mark my words, these machines are gonna be used for spying all over this country!"

"Oh have a little bit of brains, Hick!" Hunk snapped as he too found his eyes unwilling to tear from the thing that had literally popped out of nowhere. "Even they aren't that smart to design a machine that'll pop out of nowhere! No it's… it's something else."

Dorothy finally came out of her daze as she shook her head. She slowly approached it and reached a shaking hand up to touch his face when Frank grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

"Don't touch it Dorothy," he warned as he stood in front of her. "You don't know what it is. Could be a bomb for all we know."

Dorothy shook her head still unable to form words as she walked past him and up towards the statue. "No it's… it's something else. Something I saw in my dreams a long time ago," she mumbled out loud to herself. "But he can't be real. It was all a dream. Him, Lion, The Witch, Glinda… Scarecrow," she muttered the last name as if even speaking his name brought pain to her. "They were all parts of a dream…"

She reached up and gently stroked his tin face, as if assuring herself what she was seeing was nothing more than a vivid dream.

Dorothy swallowed hard when she stroked his cheek, her fingers running over every bolt and joint on his face. She took a deep breath and reached for the oil can that he held in his hands and quickly squirted him several times in the jaw joints and the lips with the black liquid.

He moved his lip and jaw and gasped as his eyes fell on Auntie Em.

"Is she okay?" he asked, ignoring the gasps of the frightened mortal men all around him. "I didn't mean to frighten her, honest!"

As his familiar voice reached her ears, his desperate plea that tried to convince them he hadn't hurt the elderly woman on purpose, Dorothy was sent into a whirlwind of familiar memories of the adventures she had gone through to get back to a home she wanted to leave the moment she got back.

But what was the most vivid was his beautifully painted face, his kind voice, his soft warm comforting body, his brilliantly blue eyes, the way he had pushed Dorothy back when the Witch had confronted them with the burning broomstick and held on tight to her, the way his hand grasped hers in her moment of fright, and how the gloved hand had fit perfectly in hers. Almost as if it had been built just to hold hers…

Dorothy had to use every bit of her might to push away the memories of him and instead focus her attention on the man in front of her.

"Tin… Tin Man?" she gasped softly. "Is it… how are you here?"

Tin Man turned towards her and his eyes lit up with joy. "Dorothy!" he cried out gleefully. "Oh I'm so happy to see you! I didn't mean to frighten her!"

Her mind could barley wrap around what was happening to her. She had told herself over and over it was nothing more than a dream yet here he was, talking to her in the same tone.

Dorothy opened her mouth to assure herself it was a dream when Frank stood boldly in front of her. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice more wondering then intimidating. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the Tin Man," he introduced, "and I'm here to tell Dorothy we need her help."

Dorothy shook her head. This had to be a dream, she was sure of it now. "No. Thi- this is a dream. You're not here, just like last time."

Tin Man furrowed his brow in confusion. "A dream? What are you mean?"

"None of this is real, none of it WAS real. It was all a dream."

The Tin Man looked positively hurt. "How can you say that? After all we did together, after you and Scarecrow," she flinched as the name she had struggled not to remember was spoken out loud first time in years. Tin Man had noticed the flinching movement. "After you both saved me, after we rescued you, after you destroyed the Wicked Witch and saved all of Oz? How can you say what we did together was a dream?"

"Destroyed a Witch?" Frank repeated out loud. "Wha… Dorothy what is he talking about?" he demanded, his voice completely flabbergasted.

But the girl barely heard him. She shook her head once more. "No, it was all a dream! I… I know it was!"

Tin Man looked like he was going to cry once more. Realizing it must be incredibly uncomfortable to be able to talk but not move any other part of your body, but still telling herself what she was seeing was nothing more than her minds imagination, Dorothy quickly began to oil the rest of his tin body.

"Dorothy, what are you doing?" Hickory asked as he eyed the Tin Man wearily. "That thing is a communist invention that-."

"Communist?" Tin Man inquired as he rolled his neck. "What's a communist?"

"It's un-American is what it is!"

"What's American?"

Hickory's eyes widened as he took several steps back, his hand clutching his heart. "What… what ARE you?"

"That's what I'd like to know and- Dorothy, stop oiling it!" Frank protested as she finished the last of his oiling.

Dorothy put the oil can down and turned back towards Tim Man who was looking at her with desperate pity. "Please, Dorothy, you HAVE to believe it was real! Oz needs your help! _He_ needs your help!"

"No," she protested. "No it was all a wonderful, fanciful dream, nothing more! None of it was real! Oz wasn't real, Glinda wasn't real, Lion wasn't real and… and he wasn't real either!"

"Please, Dorothy," Tin Man pleaded, "Oz and the Scarecrow is in trouble! The Witch came back and she and her forces are taking over Oz!"

Her mind whirled with the words that he spoke to her. No. No it couldn't be real. It just couldn't be…

"No. No it's not real!"

"Yes it is, Dorothy!" Tin Man interrupted. "She targeted the Emerald City first and managed to overrun it and now she has the Scarecrow hostage ad he's in trouble! If you and me don't get back to Oz in three days she's going to kill him then come here and kill you!"

"Hang on; someone's threatening to kill her?" Frank demanded before he turned to Dorothy. "Dorothy, tell me what's going on, please!"

But she paid no attention to his words or anyone spoke. The world before her spun out of control. The dull colors of the land swirled together to form a whirlwind of colors before her. She felt her legs give out and she collapsed onto the dry prairie ground. She heard several people cry out her name but she paid no mind to them as her eyes fluttered shut and she fell unconscious, her last coherent thought being 'Not him.'

…

"We need to take out Gilikin Country first," one of the Witch's head Winkies explained to her. "If we do that they'll be too busy saving themselves to care about Munchkin Country."

"No, you fool!" The Witch cried loudly. "Glinda has made it impossible for me to fight there! Ever since she defeated Mombi she cast a spell so one in that country is allowed to have magic but her! That's why I need the ruby slippers before I take that area! I must draw her to me!"

"But, my Lady-."

"We take Munchkin land first!" The Witch snarled. "That way when Glinda comes to try to save those pathetic fools, I'll be able to use my own powers against her ad defeat her once and for all!"

"But-."

With a wave of her hand the Winkie was thrown backwards, crashing into a brilliantly green wall and slinking down to the floor. He didn't get back up.

The Witch got up from her chair and paced nervously. It had been almost a half day since she had sent that bee hive after that cursed brat. Surly she would sacrifice herself for her friends. She didn't have the brains to save herself!

"You'll never take over Oz," came a somewhat frightened voice from behind her. The Witch snapped around and narrowed her eyes at Scarecrow who was hanging on a pole that was up his back, several places in his clothing ripped open and pieces of hay sticking out several places it shouldn't have been sticking out. "You may have Emerald City, but Glinda won't let you take over anything else!"

The Witch cackled as she walked over to him. "Glinda's power can't compare to my own and once I have those ruby slippers my powers will be the greatest in Oz! No one will be able to defeat me! Not even that ugly brat you love so much!" She spat out the word 'love' like it left a horrible taste in her mouth.

"Don't talk about her like that!" Scarecrow shouted and The Witch swirled her hand a ball of flames appeared in it.

His blue eyes widened and he tried to scamper up the pole as much as he could, prevented by the nail in his back holding him there. "Help help fire fire!" he cried loudly, praying to Ozma that someone would hear his cries and come rescue him.

The Witch let out a cruel malicious cackle once more as she extinguished the flame she held in her green hand. "You are nothing but a pile of clothes and hay, Scarecrow," she taunted. "Nothing more! Even as pathetic as the little brat is, she will never love you back!"

Scarecrow narrowed his eyes at her as she cackled once more and turned on her heel and walked out of the throne room that she had made into her command center.

He waited until she had left before he sighed and bowed his head. "You're wrong," he muttered so softly he could hardly hear himself. "She DOES love me. Oh, Dorothy, where are you…?"

Please Review :-)


End file.
